Tarot
by AkuRoku18
Summary: Ichigo always carried a deck of tarot cards. Nothing really was wrong, until the cards go out of control. Thrown into a completely different dimension, Ichigo and Toshiro have to work with the Black Order and Allen to get back to Karakura town. ON HIATUS FOR A WHILE. DON'T WORRY; I'LL GET BACK ON IT SOON!
1. Chapter 1

**Me: OK! Here's a new fanfic! I hope you like it!**

**Ichigo: Errrrr...why have you already beaten me...?**

**Me: Erm...**

**Allen: WHEN DO I COME IN?**

**Me: Just wait...*evil grin* Anyway, Ichigo, will you do the disclaimer?**

**Ichigo: Grrr...fine. AkuRoku18 does not own Bleach and Man or it's characters.**

**Me: Thanks Ichi! Now, enjoy!**

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**Tarot **

**Chapter 1**

Ichigo had always had a deck of tarot cards in the back of his bag, and, occasionally, he looked at the cards in the deck, wondering what their meaning was. So, on that particular day, Ichigo was sitting alone looking at the cards. Uryu, Chad, and Orihime went on ahead to lunch and Ichigo decided to stay behind. He shifted through the deck when he came across the card labeled 'Death.' Number 13. Picture of a skeleton in black armour on a white, red eyed horse. Dead and dying people in the background. One man pleading for his life pathetically. Oh, yeah. Ichigo had seen that card loads of times. It always had creeped him out, but that time, it felt really...wrong...

"Hey, carrot-top. Whatcha doin', starin' at those messed up cards?" a taunting voice asked. Ichigo looked up from 'Death' and saw the common thug named Gyoru; one of the guys who frequently decided to pick on Ichigo. Gyoru never completely wore his uniform as he was supposed to. He always wore a black undershirt with the standard uniform pants and the uniform shirt slung over one shoulder. Gyoru constantly smelled of marijuana and cigarettes, due to all of the time he skipped class to smoke in the bathrooms.

Ichigo sighed agitatedly and said sarcastically, "I'm being a fortune teller, what does it look like? Care to have your fortune told? If not, then kindly stay the hell away from me."

"Grr...you're pretty funny, Kurosaki. But, if you must..." Gyoru sat down heavily across from Ichigo, "Read away, strawberry."

_Ok...in the last minute or so, he called me carrot-top and strawberry...keh...is even worth my time?...oh well...it'll be fun to mess with him!_

"Alright, let's start, shall we?" Ichigo said, drawing the first card from the deck. He continued to draw the cards until he came to a final conclusion.

"So, basically, you're day will progress as it normally does; smoke in the bathrooms, throw rocks at junior high kids, deface cars, spray paint on buildings, or whatever the hell you do. But, this is the twist..." Ichigo held up the final card he drew; Death. "...you're going to die."

Gyoru snorted disbelievingly, "Right, Kurosaki. That sounded like a bad fortune cookie."

"My predictions don't lie," Ichigo said calmly.

"You're so full of crap!"

Ichigo shrugged and said, "Fine. Don't believe me. It'll be your own damn fault when you end up dead." _Heh...another dumb-ass prediction...of COURSE it sounds stupid! That's 'cause it's not gonna come true! I just wanna scare you! _

"Sh-Shut up! I'm not gonna die! Stop acting so damn calm about this!" Gyoru stammered angrily.

"Oh, a little scared, are we? Such a shame the cards never lie...you poor doomed soul..."

Gyoru finally snapped and snarled, "Shut the hell up, Kurosaki!" He threw a punch at Ichigo, and he easily stopped the attack. Gyoru saw the perfect opportunity to throw Ichigo off guard by kicking him right in the gut. "No dumb-ass like you can scare me into believing that crap!" He threw another punch, this time making it's mark square in the jaw.

Before Gyoru could land another blow, luckily, Chad stepped in to defend Ichigo.

Chad grabbed Gyoru's shirt and said threateningly, "Beat it. Now." Gyoru whimpered like a dog and ran as far away as he could from the tall, looming form of Chad.

Ichigo wiped a bit of blood from his mouth and said gratefully, "Thanks for that, Chad. I owe ya one."

"Ichigo! Are you okay?" the voice of Orihime asked urgently, immediately coming to Ichigo's side on the floor.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just one punch is a LESSER beating that guy dishes out..."

The slightly annoyed voice of Uyru asked, "Why didn't you just go into your Soul Reaper form? THAT probably would have scared Gyoru off before he could kick your ass!"

"Well, Quincy-Boy, if I HAD gone into Soul Reaper form, Gyoru probably would have just beat my seemingly-dead body!" Ichigo growled, getting up and in Uryu's face.

"Yes, but, if you were in your Soul Reaper body, you could just wave a textbook in front of his face and he'd think you were a ghost!"

"That ass doesn't BELIEVE in ghosts!"

"Well, whatever! You could smack him over the head with the book, knocking him out, and THEN run away in your body!"

"I'm not that much of a coward! You think I would just-"

"I'm sorry for cutting your pointless little squabble short," an agitated voice said from the window said. Ichigo, Uyru, Chad and Orihime saw the short, white haired Squad 10 Captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya.

"Toshiro! What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked, completely surprised, and also completely forgetting about his argument with Uryu.

"That's Captain Hitsugaya to you,"said Toshiro, "but, anyway, I'm here on official business." When no one asked 'what official business (much to Toshiro's dismay),' he continued, "There's been some abnormal activity happening around Karakura Town, so I've been sent here to investigate."

"What kind of abnormal activity?" Uryu asked.

Toshiro looked away and answered, "The Soul Society doesn't know, so I don't know either."

"Keh. How helpful is that? If you ask me, you're just here because you miss us," Ichigo said sardonically.

"Why would I miss you and your stupidity ("You son of a-!")?" Toshiro retorted. The white haired captain noticed the tarot cards lying scattered on the floor and desk. _Wh-what is this feeling? Something feels...very wrong here... _Toshiro shuddered for a moment, but almost instantly went back to being a professional and said, "I didn't know you liked tarot cards, Ichigo."

"What? Oh, yeah. Well, I'm not THAT interested in tarot. It's just a little trick," said Ichigo.

"Right. A trick..." Toshiro said blankly. "Uh, I'll keep looking around town for whatever is causing this unnaturally spiritual pressure." The Squad 10 Captain leapt out of the window, leaving Ichigo and friends behind.

Orihime spoke up and asked, "Is it just me, or did Toshiro acting a little weird?" No one answered, but Chad and Uyru nodded in agreement. Ichigo went back to his tarot cards, picking them up off the floor and putting them back in the box.

_Toshiro would probably deny this, but I saw him flinch when he saw the tarot deck... maybe the spiritual pressure is coming from these things, _Ichigo thought. He shook his head incredulously. _No way, what the hell am I thinking? Wouldn't I have sensed if they had ANY spirit energy at all? Gah...too much thinking..._ "Hey, y'know class is starting..." Ichigo mused. Everyone went back to there seats for their next class. Eventually, the day was over, but Ichigo was still troubled by Toshiro's reaction to the tarot deck. Even when he went home and was greeted by his insane father, Isshin, Ichigo STILL couldn't get Toshiro out of his head. That night, Ichigo had very bad dreams. He saw Gyoru hanging out with his gang, picking on younger kids, doing illegal activities, just as Ichigo told him. Then, the dream flashed forward to Gyoru walking alone in a dark alley. There was a huge cracking noise, like a gunshot, and a glowing purple purple bullet struck Gyoru in the back. Black pentacles appeared on his body, he turned to dust in about a minute, and the dream was over.

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**Me: Thank you for reading! Review if you want! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Me: Hiya! Back with a new chapter for you! :D**

**Allem: Yay! I'm in this chapter! Although... -_-**

**Me: Yeeeeeess? :D**

**Allen: Why did you practially kill me already? :(**

**Me: It's called setting up the plot, Walker! :D *grins evilly***

**Allen: ...Um...I won't ask... O_o"**

**Me: Can you do the disclaimer for me? :D**

**Allen: Oh sure. AkuRoku18 does not own Bleach or DGray Man, nor does she own the characters or is she making a profit. :)**

**Me: Thank you, Allen! Now, enjoy! :D**

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**Chapter 2**

Allen sat in his room, staring at the walls. There hadn't been anything to do: he couldn't kill Akuma, he couldn't argue with Kanda, in short, he couldn't do ANYTHING. He couldn't even find Timcampy. He sighed agitatedly. _How can there be _**_nothing_**_ to do in the Black Order?_

Finally, after what seemed liked months, Lenalee came through the door and said, "Allen. Komui wants to see you. NOW."

Allen sprang out of his chair. "Finally!" He backed off a little. "Wait, you sound kinda urgent. Is this a really important mission?"

"He didn't tell me what it was, but he really needs to see you," Lenalee said, and without waiting for a smart-ass comment, she grabbed Allen's arm and pulled him to Komui's office.

When they got there, Komui immediately said, "Allen! There's something really strange things going on around here and other places in the world!"

"Sir Komlin...? Is Sir Komlin running rampant again...?"

"No, not Sir Komlin! Some rumours are going around that paranormal activity has been happening Luxembourg."

"What about around here? What's happening here?"

"Lavi and Kanda are searching the whole Black Order for whatever is lurking around here."

"OK. So, what is this paranormal activity? Do you mean like an invisible Akuma?"

"No. The Finders would know if it were an Akuma. This is rumoured to be an actual ghost. I want you to go to Luxembourg City and find out what is going on." Allen nodded and went back to his room temporarily. He grabbed his Exorcist coat and Timcampy flew out of his sleeve.

"THERE you are, Tim! Why are you always in my sleeve?" Allen asked, surprised. Timcampy simply flew around in a circle. "I guess we have to catch the next train to Luxembourg City, huh, Tim?" Allen and Timcampy went down to the river route so they could leave the Order.

Allen stepped into a boat and his Finder, Toma, said, "Have a safe trip, Master Walker."

"Thanks, Toma. I'll try to come back in one piece, otherwise Kanda would have something to say about it!" Allen suddenly made an angry face and tried his best to imitate Kanda's voice. "'Shortstack! You're useless when you're half dead! You shouldn't even be an Exorcist is you can't defeat a Level 4 Akuma by yourself!'" Allen and Toma burst out laughing.

"Yes, well, let's hope that's not what is waiting for you," Toma said seriously.

Allen, taken aback by Toma's sudden seriousness, said sheepishly, "Ah, that's probably not what all of this is about. Komui said the Finders would know if it were an Akuma or not, so I can gather that what I'm going to fight isn't an Akuma." The small boat set off down the river that lead out of the Black Order. From there, Allen went to a train station and boarded the next train to Luxembourg. On the way there, Allen slept most of the way. In his dream, he was in the sky, floating over a town, sometime in the future he guessed. When he came down closer, he saw a orange haired boy, not much older then Allen himself, with black robes and a sword as long as his body. In front of the person was a huge creature with a white mask, a whiplash tail, and glowing yellow eyes. Suddenly, Allen was facing the orange haired boy through the eyes of the white masked creature. The unfamiliar person drew his sword, ran at Allen, slashed, and Allen woke up with a start.

Panting, he asked himself, "What was that about...?" He shook his head, trying to put that terrifying image in the dark depths of his head. "What a weird dream...maybe I should cut down on my food before I sleep..."

Getting Allen out of his thoughts, the conductor yelled, "Luxembourg City! Luxembourg City next stop!" When the train stopped at the station, Allen got off and looked around blankly.

"It doesn't look like anything abnormal has been happening around here at all," Allen commented. He began to aimlessly wandering around the town asking people if they knew anything about the weird activity. A young flower girl pointed Allen in the direction of the town hall. He thanked her and briskly walked to the hall. Allen tentatively walked through the ajar door. The whole place looked like a tornado stormed through the hall. He walked in cautiously, glass crunching under his feet while took every step. Allen only walked in a few steps when a white masked demon crashed into the foyer.

"Whoa! That's definitely NOT an Akuma!" Allen exclaimed. He activated his Innocence and his huge, left hand Exorcist claw appeared. During that time, however, the demon was so fast it caught Allen off guard and it slammed it's tail into the Exorcist. The attack sent Allen flying into the wall. Allen felt as if his soul was ripped right out of his body.

"Feh. The puny human can see me. Interesting...perhaps you are a Soul Reaper!" the creature said in a deep, gravely voice.

_Gggh...a Soul Reaper? What's a Soul Reaper? Never mind the whole Soul Reaper thing, what happened to my clothes? _Allen was suddenly dressed in the black robes that he had seen in his dream. At his waist was a sword. _What the-? A sword? I've never had sword before... _He tried to attack with his Innocence, but he couldn't; his Innocence had deactivated. His only option was to use the sword. He drew the blade and lunged at the demon head on. It easily dodged, but Allen was only feinting. He whipped around and attacked from the back, defeating it. The demon screeched in agony and dissapeared, leaving no trace that it was ever there. The fight left Allen panting and confused.

"A...Soul Reaper? What was that thing talking about? Maybe Komui'll know what a Soul Reaper is..." Allen said to himself. He began to walk out of the hall, but was still thinking very hard about what happened. _I'm still really confused...why am I wearing these robes? What happened to my Exorcist coat? Why can't I use my Innocence? Where did this sword come from? What was that demon? Grr...too many questions..._ Allen wandered back into the hall and looked around again, and when he searched by the place where he was thrown into the wall, he came face to face with with himself. Allen cried out in surprise.

"Hey! Mister Exorcist!" a small voice called at the entrance. Allen turned around slowly and saw the flower girl that helped him earlier. She had a look of absolute horror on her face.

"Finally! A familiar face!" Allen said joyfully. He noticed the look of terror and asked, "Um...why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" He started walking towards the girl. The odd thing was that when Allen stepped toward her, she didn't seem to acknowledge him.

_That's weird. I'm standing right in front of her, but it's like I'm invisible or something..._ "Hey! Can't you hear me?" Allen was shocked out of his mind when the girl ran right through him to his body. "What...?"

"Mister Exorcist! You can't be dead! You can't be! You have to keep fighting to protect everyone!" the girl cried. Allen sank to his knees in utter despair.

The white haired teen muttered, "No way...I can't be dead..." He then shouted, "I CAN'T BE DEAD!"

The girl ran back out of the hall shouting, "The Exorcist is dead! He's dead!" During the commotion in the town, Allen picked up his own limp body and charged out of the town hall into the woods behind the hall. The people the girl had told about the death of the Exorcist all rushed into the hall.

"Where is he?" one man asked.

"He was just here! I swear! His body just disappeared!" the girl insisted.

"Is this a joke?"

"No!" Allen hid his body behind a tree and looked around. No-one was in the forest except for him. He sighed exasperatedly.

"What a mess...how did this happen? How did my soul exit my own body? Should I go back to the Black Order?" He shook his head. That was stupid. "No, that'd be a bad idea. I can't let anyone know what happened to me. I'll just wait here for now...and try to come up with a brilliant way to get back into my body."


	3. Chapter 3

**Me: Hi y'all! :D**

**Ichigo: *sigh* -_-''**

**Toshiro: ...thanks, AkuRoku18...you've really made my life hell... :(**

**Me: It's okay, L'il Shiro, you'll get better! :D**

**Toshiro: IT'S CAPTAIN HITSUGAYA! :(**

**Me: Ehhh...yeah, sure, whatever. Can you do the disclaimer, Captain Hitsugaya? *says mockingly* ^_^**

**Toshiro: *glare* fine. AkuRoku18 does not own DGrayMan or Bleach, nor does she own the characters or is she making a profit. -_-**

**Me: thank you little boy! now go read some fanfiction! :D**

**Toshiro: im only gonna say this ONE more time; IM NOT A LITTLE KID! D:**

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Chapter 3

Again, Ichigo sat in class in sheer boredom. Nothing really, terribly exciting was happening. Although, Ichigo kept replaying his dream of Gyoru over and over again in his head. Every time he got to the part of Gyoru being killed, he cringed.

_What was that...that thing? The one that killed Gyoru? _He shook his head. _Wait, I don't even know if he's dead. That was just a dream and I have no solid proof that he was murdered. He's probably ditching again and being a dumb-ass. But...the dream felt so real to me..._

"Kurosaki! Answer the next question, or are you to busy day dreaming to bother?" the teacher barked.

Ichigo stood up abruptly, but couldn't answer the question. In fact, he had no idea what the subject they were learning was. He looked away in shame, "I'm sorry. I can't answer."

"I thought not. Stand out in the hall until you are ready to pay attention in my class."

"Yes, ma'am..." Ichigo turned and walked out of the classroom and stood in the hall as he was told.

"Idiot. You got kicked out of your class. Pathetic," the agitated voice said. Toshiro was suddenly in his gigai and in a school uniform.

Ichigo said, "Well...I was thinking..."

"Thinking? Wow, you actually thought? Good work, Ichigo," the white haired boy said sarcastically.

"Shut up. But, you know...yesterday that punk Gyoru had his fortune told with the cards, right?"

"So?"

"That actually happened in my dream. Everything I said was going to happen happened. He was with his gang, doing stuff that he probably shouldn't have been doing, until he was killed by something."

Toshiro cocked his head to one side and asked, "Killed by what?"

"Some kind of bullet...he...he turned dust in less than a minute..." Ichigo said seriously. Toshiro came close to letting a gasp slip out.

"What kind of Hollow could do that?" Toshiro asked.

Ichigo answered solemnly, "I have no clue..." Suddenly, a shrill beeping noise sounded from Toshiro's pocket. The white haired boy whipped out his Soul Pager.

"A Hollow. A pretty strong one, too...Ichigo, let me go and-" Before Toshiro could finish, Ichigo was already at the end of the hallway.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Toshiro! I'll take care of the damn Hollow!" Ichigo called over his shoulder.

A vein twitched in Toshiro's temple. "For the last time, it's CAPTAIN HITSUGAYA!" Ichigo took no notice to Toshiro's outburst. He just continued running. The orange haired teen ran behind the school where no-one could see him change from body to soul. He pulled out his Soul Reaper badge and shoved it onto his chest. Immediately, Ichigo's soul was dragged out of his body. His body went limp and Ichigo charged off to the Hollow's spiritual pressure. Moments later, Toshiro was by his side.

"Moron. This isn't your average little Hollow. Not even a gillian. This pressure belongs to an adjuchas," Toshiro said quickly, "Be on your guard."

"Tch. Whatever! I don't care what kind of Hollow it is. Adjuchas, gillian, or even freakin' ensalada for all I care!"

"Ensalada? Don't you mean...espada...?" Toshiro muttered. The two of them didn't speak to each other until they arrived at the spot where the Hollow was.

"Hmm? Soul Reapers?" The adjuchas turned to the two Soul Reapers. "Oooh! A regular one and a captain! I hope captains taste better than normal souls and average Soul Reapers!" The Hollow was about twelve to thirteen feet tall with it's Hollow hole in the center of its chest. It's mask resembled that of a bull's skull and it's tail was literally on fire. The adjuchas glared at the two Soul Reapers with it's solid gold, menacing eyes.

Ichigo drew his body-length sword and pointed it at the Hollow, "Keh! You won't be getting any tastes of my soul, Hollow!" Without thinking first, Ichigo rushed at the adjuchas and swung his blade full force. The adjuchas used a move similar to flash step and was instantly behind Ichigo. The Hollow slammed it's fist into Ichigo, sending him skidding across the ground. When Ichigo stopped sliding, almost half of the tarot cards that he hid in his shihakusho spilled out.

"What the hell are you doing with those things, you idiot?" Toshiro yelled as he lept at the adjuchas with his drawn zanpakuto, Hyorinmaru. He slashed at the Hollow, but it used the same maneuver that it had used on Ichigo; the imitating flash step. "That's not gonna work on me!" Toshiro put into action his own flash step, emerging out of nowhere behind the Hollow.

"Peh. Your flash step is slow; I saw your every move!" the Hollow roared, slashing upwards with razor sharp claws. The blow would have been fatal if Toshiro hadn't made the smallest adjustment of his footing. The adjuchas's claws still grazed the white haired boy's torso.

Blood dripped slowly out of Toshiro's light wounds, "You think this is going to stop me? That was hardly anything." But, he spoke too soon. The adjuchas was right behind him. He had no time to react. The Hollow's tail whipped into Toshiro, burning nearly half his shihakusho off. The ice-zanpakuto wielder was engulfed in flame. When the flames cleared, Toshiro let out a raspy breath, smoke billowed out of his mouth, and he fell to the ground in a burned, unmoving heap.

Ichigo watched in horror as his friend crumpled to the ground. He shouted in anger and charged again at the Hollow, forgetting about his cards. He slashed at the demon, missing by centimeters. "Come back and fight me, you bastard!"

"I think not. You aren't a very worthy opponent...I'd have more luck fighting a-" the Hollow started, but Ichigo easily sliced one of the Hollow's arm off like butter. The adjuchas screeched in agony and toppled over.

"Am I worthy now?" Ichigo growled ferociously. He had rushed to Toshiro to make sure he was still alive. The captain was still breathing, shallowly. Ichigo picked Toshiro up off the ground and flash stepped back to the cards. When he got there, the cards began to glow a malignant light. He saw the only card face up out of the thirty-odd cards was the 'Wheel of Fortune.' A circle of unknown runes. Animals that were disproved by God himself. Number ten. The cards were still glowing but then began to rise and tremor uncontrollably. Without warning, a dark portal opened and began to pull Ichigo and Toshiro in. The orange haired teen tried to stop himself and his unconscious friend from being sucked into the dark hole, but to no avail. He and Toshiro were pulled into the black abyss. Where they would end up, only the tarot card 'Wheel of Fortune' would know.


	4. Chapter 4

**Me: hi again! man, im typing a lot recently, huh? :D**

**Ichigo: *facepalm* oy vay... -_-''**

**Toshiro: well, at least im not dying anymore. :)**

**Allen: what sort of weird phone is the size of your hand...? *deep in thought* ^_^**

**Lavi: yay! im in this chapter! :D **

**Me: well, lavi, since you are special today, you can do the disclaimer! :D**

**Lavi: OK! AkuRoku18 doesnt own Bleach or DGray Man, and shes not makin a profit or does she own the characters! :D**

**Me: thank you, Lavi! *huggles* now, go read some fanfiction! :D**

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**Chapter 4**

Since he had not yet found a way to get his soul back into his body, Allen had been 'living' in the forest near Luxembourg City for a few days. So that day, he walked around in repeating circles, unable to think of what he should do. By this time, Lenalee and Lavi were most likely searching for him. Knowing Kanda, he wouldn't have given a rat's ass.

"Okay...so I've tried a number of ways to get back inside my body...but nothing is really working..." Allen muttered. He sighed deeply, wanting to bang his head against a tree. "I think I could learn how to return to my body if another Soul Reaper showed me how..." Then he really hit his head against a tree. "But I don't know any Soul Reapers! Hell, I don't know if I'm the only one or not!" He sat down on the ground with a 'thud.' He was really getting sick of the whole Soul Reaper thing. His endless silence was interrupted by loud suctioning sound. Allen looked up as twigs and dead leaves rushed past him and saw a black hole appear in the sky. He wondered if anyone else could see it. It would seem even weirder to any old person as two people were shot out of the void. Both looked in bad shape, one more so than the other. When the dark cavity disappeared, gravity returned and the two people crashed to the ground not too far from where Allen was.

Meanwhile, in a different part of the city, Lavi and Lenalee saw the dark hole appear and disappear in the sky. Lavi asked to no one in particular, "Did ya see that?"

"Yeah. We should head over there and find out what just happened!" Lenalee said quickly, "Allen might be there, too!" The red head nodded and followed Lenalee to the woods.

In the woods, Allen found the two boys that came out of the void. One was short and had white hair, like Allen. The other was taller(much taller) and had orange hair. Allen gasped when he saw the body-length sword on the orange haired one's back. He was the same person in Allen's dream! The tall boy stirred and Allen backed away slowly.

When the taller teen got up, he looked around in utter confusion. "Where am I?" he asked. He turned and saw Allen and asked him, "Hey...who are you?" Allen felt himself shaking. He couldn't help it; if this was the same guy, he could be dead within the next couple minutes. "What, cat got your tongue? I asked, who are you? And why are you wearing those clothes?"

"A-a-a-Allen W-Walker...I-I'm not sure a-about the clothes..." Allen stuttered. He cursed himself in his mind. He was stuttering like a child! "W-who are you?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki. You don't have to be afraid of me." Ichigo turned to his nearly unconscious friend. "Toshiro. Are you okay?"

The white haired youth coughed and said quietly, "Yeah...I feel as if I've gone to hell and back."

"That's likely. You did get burned pretty badly." Ichigo turned to Allen and asked, "Is there someone who can help us here?"

Allen looked thoughtful, even in his terror. He finally said, "I'm not sure...I don't know anyone who can help Soul Reapers..." _This is really weird! But, it could help to know how to get back into my body._ "Um...do you guys know how to get back inside one's body? I know this isn't really the right time..." Ichigo looked at Allen funnily.

"You're also a substitute?" the orange haired teen asked with interest.

"Um...I've got no idea what that means...but I'll say sure." _What the hell is a substitute? _The two standing boys heard rustling noises in the bushes behind them. Ichigo put a hand on his sword and Allen backed away again. Out of the bushes came not an Akuma nor a Hollow, but Lavi and Lenalee.

"Eh...heh...hey, Allen!" Lavi greeted sheepishly. "Are we interrupting something personal?"

Both Allen and Ichigo practically yelled, "NO!" _How can those two even see us?_

"Don't mind Lavi and his perverseness. Are you okay, Allen? What's with the get-up?" Lenalee asked, scanning Allen's clothing. She was quite impressed, both with the robes and the sword.

"I'm fine, but I'm still a bit confused on the clothes," replied Allen.

"Those clothes...signify that you're a Soul Reaper..." the raspy voice of Toshiro said. He stood up with much difficulty. "That sword...or zanpakuto...the shihakusho...you're a Soul Reaper." Toshiro nearly fell over if it weren't for Ichigo supporting him.

"Don't push it, Toshiro," Ichigo said quietly.

"It's...Captain Hitugaya..."

Ichigo turned to Lavi, Lenalee, and Allen and said urgently, "Hey. He really needs help now. Do any of you know how to help him?" Unfortunately, all three of them shook their heads in unison. Ichigo swore. He slammed his fist against the ground in sheer anger. The impact made a deck of cards fall out of Ichigo's shihakusho. The first one that landed on the ground was 'Temperance.' Number fourteen. A red-winged angel pouring some unknown liquid into a goblet. A peaceful landscape. A crown of golden leaves around the angels head.

The card began to glow a benign light and Lavi whispered to Lenalee, "Ya think that could be Innocence? I mean, the thing is glowin'."

"I don't know, Lavi. We'll have to wait and see," she answered. The card rose off the ground and floated in Toshiro's direction. It stopped over Toshiro's head and engulfed him in a amicable light. Almost instantly, his burns disappeared as well as some cuts. The light faded and Toshiro's eyes were cleared of pain. He stood up and picked up the card, staring at it disbelievingly.

"How...? How did this happen?" Toshiro asked Ichigo, his beautiful teal eyes wide with surprise.

"I...don't really know...I just thought about healing you, and the card...activated or something," answered Ichigo, the same amazement in his tone.

Lavi, just as astonished as everyone else, said, "I think, Ichigo, that you might be an Accomodator of Innocence."

"You think so?" Allen asked.

"Well, yeah. You saw what happened just now. The tarot card responded to strawberry's feelings. That's gotta be Innocence. After all, you know something like this happened before."

"Right! With Miranda's clock! Remember, Allen?" Lenalee could also be certain that Ichigo was an Accomodator.

"Yeah. I guess that means that Ichigo is one of us," Allen said simply. Then he remembered his own issue. "Crap! Uh...Ichigo...do you know how to get back into your body?"

"This again...I figured since you're a Soul Reaper you would know already..." Ichigo slapped his hand to his forehead.

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking, would I?"

Ichigo sighed, ruffling his hair. "Well...I could show you...but my body's back in my time..." He realized what he just said. He muttered, "My...body...back...in my time..." He then yelled, "Ah, crap! My body! I didn't even think about that 'til now! Dammit!"

"What are you so worried about?" Toshiro asked calmly, "I prefer being outside of my gigai, anyway."

"That's just your gigai! This is my freakin' body! If someone finds it..." Ichigo let out a very girly noise, "Who knows what someone could do to my body!" Lavi, Lenalee, and Allen stared at Ichigo, a little freaked out by his outburst.

"You pervert. No-one will find your body. I'll call Kisuke and tell him to find it." Toshiro dug around in his shihakusho until he found a phone. Allen noticed that it wasn't one of those clunky phones in rich people's houses. This was a small phone, about the size of the palm of ones hand. What other crazy gadgets did they have in the future?

"Does that thing even work?" Ichigo asked, still plagued by the images of his own idiocy.

"Yes. It does. I'm surprised, honestly." Toshiro held the phone up to his ear and waited a couple seconds. Then he said, "Hey, Kisuke? It's Hitsugaya."

The words that everyone heard(Toshiro forgot to turn down the volume) were, "Hey, Toshiro! How've you been? Been drinking your milk like a good little growing boy?"

Toshiro, who held the phone about two feet away from his ear, then shouted into the phone, "DON'T CALL ME A LITTLE BOY, KISUKE!"

"Okay, okay! It was just a joke. Anyway, how can I help you today?"

"I need you to head to the high school and pick up Ichigo's body," Toshiro said, still angry about the whole 'little boy' thing.

"Oh, what for? Can't he get it himself?"

"No. It's...kinda complicated."

"Ah. Were you two the cause of that abnormal flux in spiritual pressure this morning?" Toshiro's eyebrow twitched.

"You knew about that?"

"How could I not? I think even humans without spiritual pressure felt that. So, where are you now?"

Toshiro put a hand on the phone and hissed to the three Exorcists, "What year is it?"

"Eh...1890-ish? Maybe?" Lavi said, shrugging lamely.

Kisuke's voice was heard over the phone, "Toshiro? Are you still there?"

"Yeah. Um...where we are...according to some people we just met, we're around 1890."

"WHAT? 1890? Are you pulling a joke?"

"No. I'm not the type to make jokes," Toshiro said icily.

"Ok. I'll go with this for now. Tell Ichigo that I'll get his body for him. Call back whenever you can, Toshiro!"

"I'm telling you people, it's CAPTAIN HITSUGAYA!" Toshiro yelled at the phone, but Kisuke already hung up. "Grr...the nerve of him..."

"Alright, so now what? You two don't have any bodies to return to, and Allen has to get to his," Lenalee said.

Ichigo had gotten over his fear, so he turned to Allen and offered, "I can still get you back inside your body, if you'll let me help."

"That would be awesome. Thanks, Ichigo," Allen said gratefully, with a smile on his face, "Maybe on the way there, you could tell me about the future and what kind of food you can eat there!"

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**Thank you for reading! Review if you want! Cheers! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Me: hi! i finally have the chapter! since i have to be quick, i'll just say the disclaimer; i do not own bleach or dgray man, nor am i making a profit or do i own the characters. now, go read some fanfiction! :D

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**

Chapter 5

Ichigo, Allen, Lavi, and Lenalee waited in anticipation as Toshiro's Soul Pager was ringing to Kisuke again. All four of them were staring intently at Toshiro.

"What are you all staring at...?" Toshiro asked icily. He didn't like being stared at.

"Well? Are you getting anything?" asked Ichigo eagerly. The orange haired teen was goggling at Toshiro the most out of the four.

Toshiro growled, "Just give me a minute."

Kisuke finally picked up and said in his usual cheerful tone, "Hello? Urahara Shop. Have you tried our special rock candy?"

"Kisuke. It's me," Toshiro coldly said.

"Ah! Toshiro! I guessed you would call again. I also guessed you thought that I knew were you are now, correct?"

"Yes. Did you figure out anything?"

"Indeed I did."

Dead silence. Toshiro started, "Don't keep me waiting, Kisuke."

"Just think about it, Toshiro("CAPTAIN HITSUGAYA!"). How are you able to call me if you're back in time?"

"Um...well..." Toshiro, as well as everyone else, was dumbfounded. They hadn't really thought about that.

Ichigo took the phone and said, "Mr. Hat-and-clogs. Where are we if not in the past?"

"Well, what if there is a different reality with Exorcists instead of Soul Reapers? Maybe that would be possible. If you were back in time, I don't believe the Soul Pager would work. You would have no way of contacting me."

Toshiro grabbed the phone away from Ichigo, glaring at him, at said, "Ok, say we are in a different dimension or reality, how the hell do we get back to our dimension?" Another dead silence moment.

"I'm not entirely sure. But, call back again after I think through it some more, 'kay?" Kisuke hung up.

"Keh. Just another excuse..." Toshiro muttered. He went back to his usual sharp nature, "For the time being, what should we do now?"

Allen looked thoughtful and said, "I need to practice fighting in my Soul Reaper form, so I can destroy Hollows with you guys."

"Eh...we can destroy the Hollows; you stick to the Akuma," Ichigo said bluntly. Allen glared at him.

"Oh, come on. If I just practice a little-" Without warning, Toshiro pulled a glove out of his shihakusho, put it on, and smashed his palm into Allen's jaw. The white haired teen's soul was literally punched out of his body. "H-hey! What did you do?"

"What does it look like? If you want to train so badly, then let's start now," Toshiro said, chips of ice in his voice and eyes as hard as flint. He drew his zanpakuto and lunged at Allen. Allen blocked with his sword still sheathed. "Ichigo, are you going to help?"

Ichigo sighed and said, "Right behind ya." He put a hand on his zanpakuto, when Lavi pulled him back.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy? You could kill him!" Lavi growled. He obviously wasn't going to let Toshiro and Ichigo beat the snot out of Allen.

Ichigo swatted Lavi's hand away and said, "Trust me. We aren't gonna kill him. We just need to push him in the right direction to find the name of his zanpakuto." Before Lavi could ask about the zanpakuto, Ichigo lept into the fray. Allen overheard Ichigo's statement and was confused.

_What? The name of my zanpakuto? I didn't even know they had names..._ Allen was pulled out of his thoughts when Toshiro slashed again, barely missing him. _Gotta concentrate._ Ichigo was the next to attack, cleaving the ground when Allen dodged to the left straight into Toshiro. The shorter white haired youth sliced through Allen's shihakusho sleeve. The attack left a cut on Allen's upper arm, bleeding slightly.

"Hmph. You have to pay more attention then that," Toshiro said, almost smugly. Allen growled lightly. He knew he was better then that, but he felt like he was being held back.

_**You are stronger than this, Allen Walker.**_

"What...?" Allen blocked another attack from Hitsugaya and almost was cut again by Kurosaki.

_**You must call out my name, Allen Walker.**_

_What's going on? Who is this voice in my head? _

"Pay attention, Walker!" Toshiro yelled, "Rain over the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!" A great pinnacle of ice erupted out of the sword and a snarling dragon came forth.

"Aren't you getting a little too serious, Toshiro?" Ichigo called. Toshiro snorted.

"No. This will draw out his zanpakuto for sure." The short white haired boy raised his sword and slashed, the dragon flying towards Allen. It's fangs of pure ice were bared and it's eyes, glowing a deep red, were fixed on Allen. Before the dragon could close it's teeth on Allen, he jammed his even still sheathed sword between it's jaws, stopping his untimely death.

_**Allen. Call my name. Quickly!**_

_But what IS your name? Tell me! _The Hyorinmaru ice dragon, still holding Allen's sword in it's jaws, lifted Allen up off the ground and tossed him into a tree. The breath was knocked out of Allen instantly.

_**Allen!**_

"Allen!" Lavi and Lenalee shouted as Allen hit the ground.

_**Allen! **_

"Grr...dammit..." Allen muttered. He struggled to his feet and stood bravely before the great ice dragon.

_**Allen!**_

_Stop! Stop calling my name! _

_**Then say mine!**__**Yakuharai!**_

"YAKUHARAI!" Allen shouted at the top of his lungs. He was enveloped in a green light; the same color as his Exorcist light. What was in his hand now was a longer, broader blade with an elaborate guard shaped like the Black Order cross that all Exorcists had on their coats. The sword had a long handle to allow for two handed swings. "Bring salvation, Yakuharai." The ice dragon suddenly vaporized and Toshrio walked briskly to Allen.

"You passed," Toshiro said simply and icily in his usual stoney tone. Ichigo, Lavi, and Lenalee jogged up to the two white haired boys.

"Good work, Allen! I knew Toshiro was being a little over the top, but it worked!" Ichigo called joyfully.

Lavi said with equal happiness, "Man! I thought short-stack was screwed there for a minute!"

"Don't call me short-stack!" Allen hissed, partially in anger, partially in pain, and maybe a little amazement.

"Allen! Are you okay?" Lenalee asked urgently, taking her place by Allen's side. Allen just nodded, bewildered at his zanpakuto. He didn't know that it had that much power. Now, like he said, he could fight the Hollows along with Ichigo and Toshiro.

_**You have the power now. You can fight the Hollows with my strength...but, until you have mastered my great force, you must be cautious... **_


	6. Chapter 6

**Me: HI! Finally, I finished this chapter. GADS. OwO**

**Toshiro: ... -_-'**

**Ichigo: ...AkuRoku18, you're so cruel to me... T_T**

**Allen: ...me too... T_T**

**Lenalee: YAY! I do stuff in this chapter! :D**

**Me: Since you are, like, the only girl who actually fights in the fic (so far), will you do the disclaimer? ^_^**

**Lenalee: Ok! AkuRoku18 does not own DGray Man or Bleach, nor is she making a profit or does she own the characters.**

**Me: As much as I'd like to...but anyhoo! Go read some fanfiction! :D  
**

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**Chapter 6**

"C'mon, Ichigo, just activate your Innocence like before!" a tenacious Lavi urged. The group had been training constantly, Allen with his zanpakuto, Yakuharai, and Ichigo with the tarot deck, despite the fact that he couldn't produce the same results he had done before that point.

Sweat dripping off of his face, Ichigo growled, "I'm...trying, dammit!" Forcing his Innocence to work was tough.

Away from where Ichigo was training (and Lavi pushing and prodding), Lenalee said to Allen, "Do you really think this is a good idea?"

"Eh...I don't know, but Ichigo needs to learn how to use his Innocence properly or he won't be able to go back to his dimension," Allen replied seriously. Lenalee looked shocked at Allen's words. He noticed and said quickly, "O-or something like that! I don't know if that's really true, but...it...could happen?" Lenalee didn't look comforted by his words; instead she looked even more surprised. "Never mind...forget I said anything..."

"No, Allen. You don't really think that's true, do you?" she asked nervously.

Allen had to think about the question for a minute. He finally said, half-truthfully and half-dishonestly, "No. Of course not. That would be impractical, right? Ichigo and Toshiro will make it back. I know it."

_Well, at least PART of that was true...they'll make it back...but depending on the circumstances...I'm not sure they'll make back...alive..._

"Allen. Get back to training," the stone-cold voice of Toshiro said, snapping Allen back to reality. The shorter white haired youth beckoned with his sword for Allen to come back and train.

"R-right..." Before Allen could make his way back to Toshiro, an ear-splitting roar echoed throughout the training hollow. The unmistakable roar of a hollow.

Ichigo was the first to fully react, "Crap! That sounds like a Menos or an adjuchas...damn." He jumped away from the hollow as he called back, "I'll go take care of it! You guys just stay put, 'kay?"

"Wait, Ichigo!" Allen shouted after him. He swore under his breath. "Dammit, Ichigo..."

Toshiro stepped up to Allen and said, "There isn't just one hollow; there are many." The teal-eyed youth almost smiled, and almost evilly. "I think this would be the perfect test for you, Allen."

"Wha...?" Allen was dumbfounded. He'd only practiced on wimpy little hollows. He couldn't kill a Menos! Then again, he had Ichigo to rely on... "Wait, what about you? What are you gonna do?"

"What else? I'll stay here and make sure no hollows come and harm Lavi or Lenalee," Toshiro answered icily, "Knowing that, you think you can fight Menos now?"

"No! I'm not strong enough! But...I guess if Ichigo will be helping...I think I can manage." With that, Allen used an item similar to the Substitute Soul Reaper Badge and his soul was pulled out of his body. He charged off after Ichigo, trusting that Toshiro would keep his friends safe.

Meanwhile, Ichigo had discovered, to his dismay, that there were more than one Menos plus a few adjuchas. The most powerful hollow was a Vasto Lordes. Although, something was different about it than the other hollows. It had its traditional partial hollow mask, but it also had a large pentacle on it. It's white clothing also had pentacle on the upper left hand corner. At his waist was a sword.

The humanoid hollow said in a deep voice, "Greetings, Ichigo Kurosaki. I am the Demoníaco Espada Number One, Utsuro Itami. The Earl has told me a lot about you."

_The Earl? Who the hell is that? _"I don't know who the Earl is, but he's gonna wish he'd never sent you to find me when you go back home in a cardboard box!" Ichigo growled, drawing his zanpakuto. Immediately, he attacked, swinging Zangetsu and shouting, "Getsuga Tensho!" The blue claw of spirit energy flew towards Utsuro Itami. He calmly put his hand forward and stopped the attack without flinching. "What...?" Ichigo couldn't believe it.

"Pay attention, Kurosaki," Utsuro said chillingly. Suddenly, the hollow was right in front of Ichigo. Before the orange haired teen could react, Utsuro jabbed his hand into Ichigo's gut. Ichigo retched and spat up blood. The wound that Utsuro inflicted was bleeding steadily.

"Kuh...damn you..." Ichigo snarled weakly, "I didn't want to do this quite yet...but sucks for you..." Ichigo stood taller, held his sword directly in front of him, and yelled, "BANKAI!" A dark light erupted beneath his feet and engulfed him. Utsuro didn't even look phased. His expression changed from complete aloof to pure shock. Ichigo now donned his black and red, slightly torn, tight sleeved robes, representing his zanpakuto, Zangetsu. Still, this change didn't change the fact that he was wounded badly.

Utsuro changed his composition back to relaxed, "Hmm. A nice display, but it still won't do you any-" Before he knew it, Utsuro was almost in two pieces. A long gash crossed his body. He looked up to face Ichigo, but he wasn't there anymore. Instead, the orange haired teen was behind him, fresh blood coating his blade.

"Tensa Zangestu," Ichigo said coldly. He fell to one knee, clutching his wound.

"Keh! Don't think that by scoring one little hit that you'll actually win against me!" Utsuro nearly shrieked, completely losing his normal attitude. He unsheathed his blade and screeched, "Kill my enemy, Shi no Sutoraiki!" The blade glowed maliciously and the light consumed Utsuro. A second later, a huge hollow stood in his place. Utsuro Itami was clad in a more "hollow-y" armour. His hands were replaced with long, sharp, almost delicate looking claws. Plates covering both shoulders had spikes sticking out of them. The hole that all hollows had was showing clearly. But, the pentacles remained.

"Hmph. That's one ugly hollow..." Ichigo said to himself. He stood again, pointing the long, black blade of Tensa Zangetsu at the hollow that stood before him.

Allen had reached the site where Ichigo and Utsuro were battling. He looked in shock at what scene was unfolding before him. Ichigo was bleeding badly, but still fighting with almost all his strength like his wound wasn't even there. He was fighting something that looked like a bad horror book monster; a fused Akuma and hollow monster. There were various other hollows that surrounded the two, but they didn't look like they were going to make a move. Which was good.

_I can sneak up behind one, unleash Yakuharai, and then take out the rest so Ichigo won't have to deal with them. _He observed each hollow carefully. _The large ones are the Menos, I think. They're big and slow, but extremely powerful. Then, the smaller ones...are they regular hollows? If that's so, then I'll take them out first. _Allen quickly came up behind one of the Menos, making no noise, when an unknown body crashed into him.

"Hunh...another Soul Reaper..." a rough voice hissed in Allen's ear. The hollow's mask was in the shape of an odd combination of a snake and fish; short and wide, it's mouth filled with sharp teeth. It turned it's head around and called, "Utsuro! What should I do with this one?"

"What? If you haven't noticed, you oaf, I'm a little busy right now." Allen could lift his head enough to get a good look at what Ichigo was fighting; the hollow/Akuma mix of Utsuro.

Ichigo glanced at Allen, muttering something under his breath.

"Hmm...this Soul Reaper doesn't look nearly as powerful as Kurosaki..." Utsuro then noticed the pentacle above Allen's left eye. "Oooh...I see...you're that Walker kid the Earl mentioned to us."

"So what if I am?" Allen hissed, "What are you gonna do about-?" His sentence was cut off by one of Utsuro's razor sharp claws stabbing him in the shoulder.

Allen cried out and Utsuro said coldly, "What am I going to-?" He laughed a high, icy, cold-blooded laugh. "What am I going to do about it? Well, I'm simply going to kill you, ignorant child." He took his claw and was ready slice Allen open, when Ichigo attacked Utsuro from the back.

"Don't take your eyes off your opponent, Itami!" the orange haired youth shouted, leaving a long gash down Utsuro's back.

Utsuro growled and yelled back, "I'll kill you first, Kurosaki!" He whipped his head back around and said to the other hollows, "Keep this one busy." The Vasto Lordes used a flash-step like movement and returned to his fight with Ichigo.

Allen got up, holding his shoulder, and looked at all of the hollows. He muttered, "This isn't gonna be easy..." Nevertheless, Allen drew his zanpakuto, and yelled, "Bring salvation, Yakuharai!"

Elsewhere, Lavi, Lenalee, and Toshiro were on the lookout for any Akuma or hollows.

"D'you think Allen and Ichigo are alright?" Lenalee asked, obviously worried about the two.

Toshiro snorted, "Pfft. Please. Ichigo is practically made of steel; I don't think anything can kill him. Allen's a tough kid, too, you know."

"Kid? Isn't he older than you, L'il Shiro?" Lavi asked blatantly.

"First of all, never call me 'L'il Shiro' again. Secondly, I'm a lot older than I look," Toshiro said icily.

"'Kay?" Then, without warning, Lavi tackled Toshiro to the ground when an Akuma's bullet struck exactly where the white haired boy was standing.

"What the hell was that for?" Toshiro raged.

"You should be thanking me, actually. That bullet woulda hit you, and then you woulda been dust in about a minute," Lavi growled. Toshiro realized this, and looked away in shock. "Damn Akuma..." By then, Lenalee had already destroyed the Akuma with the Dark Boots.

"We should get away from here; there's gonna be a lot of Akuma coming..." Lenalee said.

Lavi, who'd changed his attitude completely, replied enthusiastically, "Nah. We can handle 'em, right, Toshiro?" Toshiro sighed.

"Well, I can't fight the Akuma, but-" The Soul Pager started beeping shrilly. Toshiro whipped the annoying phone out of his shihakusho. "Damn. Hollows. Not the ones Ichigo and Allen are fighting. They're coming for us." He drew his zanpakuto and pointed it in the direction that the Akuma were coming from.

"Big hammer, Little hammer, grow, grow, GROW!" Lavi shouted. The tiny little hammer that Lavi kept in a holster on his leg was now a gigantic hammer, bigger than some trees.

"Rain over the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!" yelled Toshiro. The great ice dragon circled around Toshiro, ready to attack. At that point, Akuma and hollows alike surrounded the trio, poised to attack them.

* * *

**Dun dun DUN! What will happen to Ichigo and Allen as they're fighting Utsuro Itami and his band of hollows? Will Lavi, Lenalee, and Toshiro fend off all of the Akuma and hollows that are ready to rip them to pieces? Chapter 7 will answer all of these questions (when I type it)!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Me: Hey! Here's the new chapter! :D**

**Allen: Phew... :(**

**Ichigo: Why do you hate me? :(**

**Me: Whaaaaat? I don't hate you, Ichi-kins! :D**

**Ichigo: Oh-kay. *hates his new nickname* -_-'**

**Hichigo: Alright, I KICK ASS! 8D**

**Me: Well...okay. Hichi, can you do the disclaimer? O_o'**

**Hichigo: RAHR! AkuRoku18 doesn't own DGrayMan or Bleach, nor does she own the characters or is she making a profit. RAHR! 8D**

**Me: Scary... O_O'''**

**Allen: Oh, yeah. Just to clear one thing up, I can't use my Innocence whilst in Soul Reaper form. **

**Me: Nice bit of info, now GO READ FANFICTION! :D**

**Hichigo: RAHR! 8D  
**

**

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Chapter 7**

Ichigo swore. _This battle can't last much longer, _he thought. The fight with Utsuro Itami seemed like it had no end. No matter what Ichigo did, the hollow countered every one of his attacks. Allen was having his fair share of problems, as well. He had slain many of the Menos and some of the adjuchas, but he looked as if he would keel over in exhaustion.

"What? Something on your mind?" Utsuro asked maliciously. He wasn't going to take the battle seriously anymore. Ichigo himself was tired. His attacks were becoming sloppier and less powerful.

"Keh. Don't kid yourself," Ichigo growled back. He raised his sword and slashed, only to find himself attacking open space.

"Behind you," Utsuro hissed. Hot, searing pain scorched Ichigo's back. He fell to his knees and blood spattered the ground. His blood. His world was turning darker.

_**Ichigo...**_

_No...not you...leave me alone..._

_**Is that really how you feel, Ichigo? You want my power, you know you do...**_

_No...please...I can...kill him...myself..._

_**Come on...look at you! You're a mess...you're dying and you know it, don't you?**_

_No..._

_**Accept it...accept my power and you won't die...**_

_Leave me alone..._

_**Accept it!**_

_NO!_

_**DO IT NOW!**_

"GRAAAAAAAH!" A similar black light that surrounded Ichigo when he went into bankai erupted beneath his feet, but Utsuro felt and saw something different about him. His spiritual pressure felt like that of a hollow and as he was realizing this, a half completed hollow mask was forming on the left side of his face. When it formed into it's full shape, Ichigo laughed a high pitched, messed up kind of maniacal laugh. His eyes had turned black with sinister golden pupils.

"What the...what kind of trick is this?" Utsuro asked in fear and surprise.

"Trick? There are no tricks to this," answered Hollow Ichigo in his disturbing, sharp voice. One flash-step later, Utsuro Itami had been cut down.

Slashed into two pieces, his final words were, "Damn...you...Kurosaki...you...monster..." And then, before he hit the ground, he dissipated into thin air.

"Heh...pathetic. How could Ichigo be beaten by that loser?" Hollow Ichigo said dully. Allen, who hadn't been oblivious to the Ichigo/Utsuro ordeal (and who had also killed all of the hollows), was scared and confused.

"I-Ichigo? What happened to you?" Allen asked shakily. Hollow Ichigo glared at the white haired teen. Then, he grinned evilly.

Hichigo said cruelly, "Ah...you're one of his little friends, aren't you?" He let out his crazy, maniacal laugh again. "I'll have to kill you, too." He attacked with one swift move, which surely would have killed Allen, but a white blur appeared in front of Allen. It was Toshiro.

"Hey! Snap out of it, Ichigo!" Toshiro shouted. Hichigo simply cackled, and began whaling on Toshiro's zanpakuto. "Damn...fine then! I'll have to use force to get you back." Toshiro thrust his pointer and middle fingers forward and yelled, "Hado number 4! Byakurai!" White lighting shot out of both fingers, hitting Hichigo in the shoulder. Toshiro hoped this might slow him down a little, but it didn't. The hollow form of Ichigod continued to laugh like a mad man.

"That's more like it! I wanted someone to fight seriously! A captain is PERFECT!" he shrieked inhumanly. He would continue to slash Toshiro until he was beaten into submission. At least, that was the plan.

"Tch. BANKAI!" yelled Toshiro. Suddenly, two wings of ice were positioned on either shoulder of Toshiro's body. Ice coated his feet and right arm. A long, icy tail whipped out behind him. "Daiguren Hyorinmaru."

Hichigo didn't seem to care about Toshiro's bankai. "Ha! That won't stop me!" He unexpectedly seized up. His left hand shot up to his hollow mask.

"NO! I'M NOT DONE YET!" Hichigo shouted. Ichigo's voice sounded out.

_Get out of here!_

"I WON'T! I'M HAVING TOO MUCH FUN!" Hichigo screamed, grinning like a maniac.

_I said, LEAVE!_

"GYAAAAAAH!" Ichigo managed to rip off the mask and free himself from the hollow. He collapsed, exhausted and almost dying.

Allen ran over to Ichigo, fell to his knees, and shook his body, "Ichigo! Ichigo! Say something!" Ichigo rolled over.

"Hey...Allen...you okay?" Ichigo asked weakly. Tears filled in Allen's eyes. He hastily wiped them so Ichigo couldn't see. Allen had been so scared, he couldn't help but cry in relief when it was over.

"Y...yeah." Toshiro reverted out of bankai and rushed to Ichigo, pushing Allen out of the way.

"Move. I don't know everything about healing Kido, but I can at least do it to some extent," Toshiro said quickly. Allen didn't understand the Kido thing, but he heard 'healing,' so he let Toshiro do his thing. Then, Lavi and Lenalee ran up to the bedraggled group of Soul Reapers.

"Shortstack! You're still alive!" Lavi exclaimed happily, even though he himself was banged up a bit.

"Allen!" Lenalee dashed to him and threw her arms around him. "You're okay!"

Allen was shocked, but nonetheless, he said, "F-for the most part. Ichigo has the worst situation out of the five of us. We should retreat back into the forest and recover, and be ready for whatever else is coming after us."

* * *

Elsewhere, in a dark, unidentifiable place, the tall shape of a man sat in his throne. Sosuke Aizen sat, waiting for his guest to arrive.

"Maybe he couldn't make it, Aizen," the fox-faced Gin Ichimaru said. Ironically, the Millennium Earl rode in with his golem Lero.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Lord Aizen," the Earl said, not sounded apologetic at all. "Road was insisting I stay and do something with her."

"I accept your apology, Lord Earl," Aizen stated. He got right to the point, "I want to know how well the Demoníaco Espada experiment went."

The Earl said smoothly, "That fool Utsuro Itami was killed by Ichigo Kurosaki after the brat donned a hollow mask." This seemed to interest Aizen. "What's so interesting about it, Lord Aizen?"

"Nothing important," he replied swiftly. "In the meantime, we will send a new Espada in Itami's place." A figure appeared in the doorway.

In a uncaring, almost bored voice, the new Demoníaco Espada said, "I am the second Demoníaco Espada, Tamashi Hakaisha."


	8. Chapter 8

**Me: Hi! Sorry for the slow update. I had a lot of stuff goin' on for awhile. :)**

**Ichigo: Eh...I think you were just being lazy. ;)**

**Allen and Lavi: LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZY! 8D**

**Me: Shut up! I swear, I'm gonna kill you two in the next chapter! :(**

**Allen and Lavi: O_o''**

**Me: *huff* Anyway! I'll just do the disclai- oh wait! No, I can make KISUKE do it! :D**

**Kisuke: Whaa...*yawn***

**Me: Come on, Kisuke! Just one little disclaimer, pleeeeease? :) *smiles innocently***

**Kisuke: Ehh...ok. AkuRoku18 does not own Bleach or DGray Man, nor does she own the characters or is she making a profit. :l**

**Me: Thank you, Kisuke-kins! Now, GO READ SOME FANFICTION! :D  
**

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**Chapter 8**

"Toshiro, I need you to teach me to use a bankai," Allen said. About a week had passed since Ichigo had fought Utsuro Itami and nearly died. Now he was slowly, but surely, recovering. The rest of the group (namely Lenalee and Lavi) had been going around slaying any stray Akuma.

"Tch. You think you're ready for that?" Toshiro retorted coldly, "What made you want to learn it so suddenly?"

Allen looked at the ground, focused entirely on a crumpled, shriveled leaf. He finally said, "During the last battle, I thought Ichigo was going to die. I thought I was going to die..." He looked up into Toshiro's icy teal eyes. "I don't want that to happen again. I don't want you or Ichigo to get hurt because I'm not strong enough. I don't want ANYONE to get hurt because of me."

Toshiro stared at him interestedly, and said, "Well, you know, bankai takes a long time to master. For most Soul Reapers, it sometimes takes ten years to master bankai fully."

"What? I don't have ten years for this, Toshiro!" Allen cried with complete despair in his voice.

"I wasn't finished yet," Toshiro said bitterly. "I said _most_ Soul Reapers, not all."

Allen was taken aback. "W-wait, what?" This remark made Toshiro pretty annoyed.

"Pay attention, idiot. Kisuke invented a way to master bankai in three days. That's how Ichigo can use bankai," Toshiro explained.

"No way...three days? Ichigo?" Allen glanced at the make-shift bed they had made for Ichigo, where the orange haired teenager lay. At the moment, he looked hardly able to master anything. "I can't believe it!" Allen looked and sounded excited. "How can I do that? Can you teach me, Toshiro?"

"Shut up. Listen, in order to master bankai in three days like Ichigo, we would need a Tenshintai (A/N; a Tenshintai is the white doll thing that Ichigo used to get his bankai), which is something we obviously don't have," snapped Toshiro. He crossed his arms and continued, "We would need to get or find one; both are impossible, though. We can't get one because we have no way to transfer items between our two dimensions, and I highly doubt you've got one lying around."

"You never know, Komui could probably whip one up..." Allen said casually.

Toshiro looked Allen straight in the eye and asked, "Who is this Komui? D'you really think he can make a Tenshintai?"

"Maybe. But we'd have to travel all the way back to the Black Order. Considering our position, it may be a bad idea to take a train, especially since Ichigo probably shouldn't be moved yet."

"What about me?" Ichigo asked dully, sitting up slowly with an, "Ow."

Allen said, surprised, "Ichigo! I see you're feeling better, huh?" He smiled in relief.

"I suppose so," Ichigo replied, returning the grin with less enthusiasm. "Oww...have I been asleep long?"

"Couple hours today, but that's to be expected. You did suffer some pretty nasty injuries," Allen said.

"Eh, they're better now. So, what's the plan for the future?"

"Well...I need to master bankai so I ca-"

Ichigo interrupted loudly, "Bankai? Now? You've only just gotten the hang of shikai, for god's sake! Isn't this a little bit too soon?"

"...I figured it would be for the best because, you know...it seems like you're the one who's saving my ass all the time ("Hey! You know, I rescued you from being killed by Hichigo, Allen!" Toshiro growled.). So...yeah," Allen finished lamely.

Ichigo let out a deep sigh. He rested his head in the palm of his hand (A/N; facepalm!) and stared at the ground. He looked up and said, "Ah...you should do what you think you should do, Allen. But, one question first-" Allen looked as if he was going to say something "-how the hell are you gonna master bankai? I thought you needed one of those Tenshin-thingees. Like what I used."

"Yes, strawberry, you need a 'Tenshin-thingee.' Dumb-ass..." Toshiro smirked. "It's called a Tenshintai, smart one."

"Well, whatever. You need one."

"But, we don't _have_ one." Toshiro really emphasized the the word 'have.'

"Ok! I freakin' understand! Jeez..." Ichigo growled.

Allen, who had been excluded from the little conversation, spoke up and asked, "Uh, Toshiro, can Soul Reapers, uh, _talk _to their zanpakuto? I know that probably sounds stupid, but-"

"Yes," Ichigo and Toshiro said in unison.

"What, that it sounds stupid or that it's true?"

"It is possible to talk to ones zanpakuto," Toshiro said professionally.

Allen said loudly with vigor, "Really? How? Tell me, tell me, tell me!" He was definitely overly excited.

Toshiro's eyebrow twitched and he hissed coldly, "Shut up. You sound like Lavi if you do that. Moron," he added disdainfully.

"Heh...sorry. But really! How can I talk to Yakuharai?"

"You have to be perfectly calm. You must attain inner peace inside yourself. Once you make contact with your zanpakuto, you might be vulnerable to outside attacks. So, Ichigo, myself, and the other two Exorcists will protect you until you have your chat," Toshiro explained.

"So, will I be meditating three days straight?" The concept of not eating those three days was baffling to Allen.

"Tch. No, you're not becoming Buddha, here. When you're done training with Yakuharai, you will come back to this reality and eat or whatever," Toshiro said, the slightest bit of a sneer in his voice and face. "Get into a meditating position. Now." The order made Allen immediately cross his legs and look as wise as humanly possible. "Close your eyes, and breathe slowly." Allen did as he was told. It took a minute or so until Allen felt it was the right time to open his eyes. Instead of being in the cold, wintery forest, he was in a completely different place. The whole clearing looked like some kind of weird, realistic drawing coming from a messed up five-year old; the sky was a dark shade of purple, the trees were leafless and brown, even the grass looked funky with a deep color of green mixed with streaks of yellow. There was multicolored, circus looking tents in the distance. A full, opaque yellow moon hung in the sky.

"Allen...good to see you've finally made it," a cool voice said making Allen jump out of his sitting position. He whipped around to face his thought attacker. He was taken by surprise and thought he saw someone familiar.

"M-Mana?"

* * *

"Pfft...you want me to kill _them_? That sounds waaaay too boring..." Tamashi droned. He wasn't interested in killing weak, pathetic Soul Reapers. He and Aizen were gazing into a portal that showed them where Allen and his friends were hiding.

"Please, Tamashi. If you do kill Ichigo and his merry little band, you will be rewarded," Aizen said smoothly.

Tamashi let out a bark of laughter. His laugh sounded as dull and lifeless as his normal voice. "Reward me? With what? There's nothing I could possibly want from you..."

"What if I told you that I could make you into a human?" Aizen continued in his even tone.

That caught Tamashi's attention. His dull, gray eyes that usually carried a sully look in them now were attentive and appalled. "Excuse me? You can do that?"

Aizen smiled slightly, "Well, not yet. When the Hogyoku awakens, then you will have your wish granted."

"Oh...in that case..." Tamashi sneered evilly, "Consider Allen Walker, Ichigo Kurosaki, Toshiro Hitsugaya, Lenalee Lee, and Lavi dead." His maniacal laugh echoed throughout Hueco Mundo that night.


	9. Chapter 9

**Me: Sorry about the long wait! I've had a lot of stuff to deal with... T_T**

**Ichigo: At least YOU'RE not dying... -_-**

**Allen: At least YOU'RE not training for bankai... -_-**

**Lavi: At least YOU'RE not fighting random Akuma... -_-**

**Me: Oh, stop whining. You all sound like little girls. *snickers* :)**

**All three of them: *glare* O_o**

**Me: Anyway, I stole Komui from the Black Order to do the disclaimer. I'm running out of people... :)**

**Komui: AkuRoku18 does not own Bleach or DGray Man, nor does she own the characters or is she making a profit. Can I go blow things up now? :(**

**Me: Yes, yes, of course! Go make things explode! :D**

**The three of them: WE'RE GONNA GO WATCH! :D**

**Me: Er...yeah. Readers, go read some fanfiction! :)  
**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

"Mana? You must be mistaking me for someone else," the man said slowly. He was tall and slender with a slight goatee. His mid-length, dark, unkempt hair was concealed in a tall, black and white hat with a wide brim. He wore a black and white shihakusho to match the hat. The so-called Mana had a stern look on his face, unlike the Mana Allen knew and loved.

"But...you look almost exactly like him..." Allen wasn't sure if he should be happy or angry; happy that he found 'Mana,' or angry that someone would dare impersonate him.

"In any case, what are you here for, Allen Walker?" Yakuharai asked austerely, "Surely, you haven't come just to say hello?"

"Oh! Er..." Allen swore in his mind. He was distracted from what he needed to do. "I...Ineeyotteamebakai..." He mumbled incoherently. Yakuharai raised an eyebrow.

"Repeat that, again. Slowly, this time," he said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Allen felt his face flush in embarrassment. "I need you to teach me bankai...er...Yakuharai, sir," he said clearly.

"Ah, yes. Of course, Allen Walker," Yakuharai acknowledged, as if he already knew what Allen was going to say. He waved his arm out in front of him. The weird, unrealistic background was replaced with a rocky wasteland type terrain. Hundreds of swords appeared in the wasteland (A/N: Sound familiar to anyone?) and Yakuharai flash-stepped to grab one, and Allen did the same. The older male pointed the sword at Allen and said coolly, "Your training session begins, Walker."

"When is he gonna come baaaack...?" Lavi yawned. He and Lenalee had a particularly fun time destroying a Level 2 Akuma with the nasty ability to become invisible to the human eye. They both came back in one piece, but the Akuma still wore them out.

"Hopefully, sometime within today, unless he dies or something," Toshiro smirked. That smug remark set off Lenalee.

"WHAT? You think he'll _die_?" she gasped.

"Eh? No. No, I didn't-" Toshiro began, but he stopped with an exasperated sigh. "No, I do not believe Allen will die in training for bankai. I didn't, and Ichigo sure as hell didn't."

Ichigo turned to the three of them and said, "Well, I almos-" He was cut off with a sharp glare from Toshiro that clearly said: _If you say ANYTHING_ _about your training, I will kill you. Idiot._ "Heh...heh, I almost wanted to...uh...go train with him! Eh heh heh..." Ichigo finished unconvincingly. Lavi and Lenalee looked at him skeptically, but didn't question him.

"At any rate, we should keep an eye out for any Akuma and hollows that might wanna eat Allen's soul," Lavi said wisely. He meandered off to a tree to the north, sat down, and stared off into the distance. "I'll keep a look out here. You guys go find your own places." Lenalee chose her spot next to Allen, Ichigo kept close to his bed nearer to the east, and Toshiro looked to the south-west from a nice, cold rock.

"You better make it back, Allen. If you don't..." Lenalee murmured to Allen, though he could not hear her.

Meanwhile, Allen was dodging attacks from Yakuharai. Left and right, everywhere. Deep gashes were left in the ground by Yakuharai's mighty blade. Pain was all Allen was aware of at this point. He had been thrown into rocks, cut by the blades, and smashed into the ground. Training for bankai was a lot harder then Allen had originally thought. Dodge, dodge, dodge...Allen blocked an attack aimed at his heart, only to be kicked into another rock.

"Allen! Pay more attention!" shouted Yakuharai, flash-stepping at Allen again. Allen flash-stepped away to another sword and blocked once more, this time avoiding the kick and swinging his sword back. Yakuharai easily parried the blow with a flick of the wrist, shattering the blade and slashing across Allen's chest. Blood spattered the ground as Allen fell to the rocky earth. "Hmph. If you cannot manage a fight against me, you should not be learning bankai, Walker," Yakuharai said lowly.

Allen struggled to stand and cover his wound with one hand, but to no avail; he only made the bleeding worse. "Sh-shut up! I will master this, even if it kills me!" the substitute Soul Reaper yelled. He flash-stepped to the next sword and swung it towards Yakuharai. The attack caught the zanpakuto humanoid off-guard and Allen's blade met flesh.

"Damn...that was a lucky shot, Walker," Yakuharai growled, putting a hand over a deep wound in his shoulder, "But, you won't be that fortunate again!" He zipped at Allen full-speed and slammed his fist into the white haired teens gut. Allen felt the breath being knocked out of him not once but twice as he hit yet another rock. He slumped to the ground, motionless. "Are you dead, Walker?" Yakuharai questioned coolly. Allen twitched slightly. "I suppose not," he continued. He waved his hand once more and the swords disappeared, though the rocks did not.

"Are...you running away...?" Allen rasped out. He stood up shakily and glared at the zanpakuto humanoid. "Why'd you...why'd you stop? You could have...killed me if you wanted..."

Yakuharai snorted, "Why would I kill you? You are my wielder. I have no intentions of killing you. Someone else may, but I will not." He walked away and said, "There is a hot springs around here; I suggest you find it, Walker." Allen stared disbelievingly after the zanpakuto. He decided to take Yakuharai's advice and search for the hot spring. That didn't take long. Allen made sure no-one was watching him and took his clothes off. He slipped gratefully into the spring. As soon as he touched the water, he felt as if all of his pain was washed away. Which was true.

"Whoa! M-my wounds already healed?" Allen asked himself in surprise, "This water is great!" The cuts, bruises, and the large gash had disappeared, like they were never there in the first place.

"How is it?" a voice asked from behind a rock.

"It's-!" Allen almost screamed like a little girl. "HEY! Who's there? Have you been spying on me? Pervert!" He thought about activating his Innocence, but remembered that he couldn't.

"Calm down. It's just me. No-one else can access this place, Walker," Yakuharai muttered, "Why would I spy on a boy, anyway? You'd have to be a girl..."

"I don't even want to know..."

"In any case," continued Yakuharai, "after you're done here, you should go back to your friends in your world. You will come back tomorrow. Is that clear?"

Allen sank into the water. Another day of THAT? Another day of getting smashed into rocks, slashed everywhere, and being insulted? "Sounds like fun," Allen said unenthusiastically, "Can't wait."

"It shall be one step closer to mastering bankai, Walker. Can you do it?"

"Yeah. I think so. Tomorrow, I won't lose to you."

"That's the spirit." Allen heard the footfalls of Yakuharai as he walked away. He sighed and closed his eyes. He felt the water dissipate around him and the smell of the brittle forest returning. He opened his eyes and saw Lenalee staring intently into them.

"L-Lenalee? Why are you staring at me like that?" Allen asked.

"Y-you're back. You're back!" She threw her arms around his neck and embraced him. He blushed in embarrassment and surprise.

"Well...yeah. What, did you think I wouldn't?"

"No, but Toshiro thought you might not..."

Toshiro heard this and whipped around on his rock, glaring at Lenalee. He said with chips of ice in his voice, "I did NOT say that, fool."

"I remember you saying something like 'Allen should come back today, unless he dies or something,'" Lenalee retorted coolly, almost quoting Toshiro exactly.

"You...you fool! It's called sarcasm! I didn't actually-" Toshiro started angrily, but turned back to where he was facing before, looking dead serious.

"What is it, Toshiro?" Ichigo asked, rolling over in his makeshift bed. He had heard Toshiro and Lenalee's little squabble, but made no effort to stop it. Lavi was actually enjoying himself by listening to the two fight.

"A hollow," Toshiro said softly. Then he swore loudly. "It's one of those Demoníaco Espada!" Everyone took a sharp intake of breath.

"Seriously? We barely survived the last fight against Utsuro!" Ichigo cried.

"We can't fight another one!" Allen said loudly.

Lavi voiced, "Dammit! How can we kill another one?"

"What'll we do?" Lenalee asked worriedly.

"All of you, calm down! With any luck, you won't have to worry about the Espada," Toshiro said coldly.

"Why? What're you thinking?" Ichigo asked dubiously. He had this feeling he already knew what Toshiro was going to say.

"You don't need to worry because **I'll** go fight the Espada by myself," replied Toshiro solemnly.

Allen nearly shouted, "WHAT? You can't! Ichigo fought Utsuro and nearly died!"

"I am aware of this. You're forgetting that I am a captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, therefore much more powerful than Ichigo. I think I can handle myself," the white haired captain said, with stark confidence. He flash-stepped away from the group to deal with the Espada. He eventually got to the location of the Espada.

"Welcome, Toshito Hitsugaya, to your funeral," a droning, icy voice said. Toshiro saw the slim figure of the Espada. He wore the standard white shihakusho and a partial hollow mask on his face. The pentacle was on his face, mask, and shihakusho; just like Utsuro Itami.

"Who are you, Espada?" Toshiro asked in a frigid tone.

"I am Tamashi Hakaisha. But, please, call me your death," Tamashi replied. He stared at Toshiro with cold gray eyes, examining the captain. "I wonder...how does the power of a captain match up the power of an Espada?"

Toshiro drew his blade, Hyorinmaru, and pointed at it Tamashi's throat. "Let's find out."


	10. Chapter 10

**Me: Hey guys! It's been awhile, hasn't it? :D**

**The group: ... :l**

**Me: ... :D**

**Toshiro: ...sometimes, I really hate you... :(**

**Me: *le gasp* Me? Why m-me? D':**

**Lavi: Well, you abandon us for months... -_-**

**Toshiro: ...and then, you kill us a lot. -_-**

**Me: ...*sniff* You guys are so mean! ;A; *runs away***

**Lavi: ...now I just feel bad. Why are you so cruel, Toshiro? :I**

**Toshiro: WHAT? You started it...stupid rabbit...¬¬**

**Lavi: *sob* We don't have a writer anymore! What're we gonna do?**

**Allen: You could, y'know, apologize? :I**

**Lavi: *running and crying* I'M SORRY, AKUROKU18! I APOLOGIZE FOR TOSHIRO, TOO! T_T**

**Toshiro: Um...yeah. -_-**

**Lavi: I'll even do the disclaimer! Watch, watch! AkuRoku18 doesn't own D Gray Man or Bleach, nor does she own the characters or is she making a profit! Now you've gotta come back! You've gotta! T^T**

**Me: *runs back and tackle-glomps Lavi* YAY! Ok, I'll stay. Now, you guys go read some Fanfiction! :D**

**Lavi: :D  
**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Flash step. Flash step. Flash step. Every attack Toshiro threw at the Espada, he evaded with that damn flash step. Dodge, dodge, dodge. No attacks made it. Meanwhile, Toshiro was blinded by his own blood, unable to deflect or dodge slashes proficiently. All his wounds bled profusely.

"D-dammit! Why don't you stop moving? It'd be easier to kill you that way," the white haired captain growled, dropping to one knee and clutching his side. The worse injury was when Tamashi easily slid his blade in between Toshiro's ribs on the right. Other wounds were just short but deep cuts.

"Come now. Why would I stand still while you hack me to pieces? Pfft...you're really not what I was hoping for..." Tamashi yawned, flicking blood off of his blade. "Why can't you put up a bit more of a fight?" He stopped flicking, pointed the blade at Toshiro, and hissed, "Why won't you go into bankai, Hitsugaya?"

Toshiro sighed, "I really didn't want to, but I suppose I have no choice, right?" He stood, raised the Hyorinmaru, and yelled, "BANKAI!"

"Oooh! This may not be boring after all!" Tamashi said excitedly, "This may be the first time I'm excited for a battle!" He soon regretted saying those words, as Toshiro used a simple flash step to slash Tamashi from head to torso.

"Daiguren Hyorinmaru," said Toshiro icily, "I'd love to see you stand up to this, Hakaisha."

"Kuh! What? This can't be! A minute ago, you were losing to me! How can you have gotten so strong?" Tamashi shrieked, retching up blood. He regained his composure and said madly, "Alright if that's how you want it, Hitsugaya!" He charged with his sword raised and shouted, "Kill! Hitogoroshi!"

Lavi sat at his tree, staring off into the distance. The sky slowly became dark. _There are storm clouds gathering...ahh...it's gonna rain... _He stood and walked casually back to Allen and the others.

"Hey, Lavi. Do you think Toshiro is okay?" Lenalee asked. Lavi could only shrug.

He then said sarcastically, "How should I know? I turned my psychic powers off. The only way to know for sure is to go after him." The red head turned his head over to the sleeping Ichigo and continued, "And that would leave us with one less person to protect Sleeping Beauty over there."

Allen looked over at Ichigo as well, turned back, and muttered, "If any hollows were to show up, we'd be pretty dead, if you ask me." He felt a hand land on his head and the uncomfortable feeling of his hair being ruffled.

"JEEZ! When did _you_ become so pessimistic, beansprout?" Lavi asked loudly, staring at Allen intently, eye to eye.

"What? I'm only speaking the truth! I'm no good as a Soul Reaper, so I wouldn't be able to protect everyone. Also, IT'S ALLEN!" Allen shouted the last part, causing Ichigo to wake up. He swatted Lavi's hand away.

Lavi mocked being offended and said, in a mockingly serious tone, "Awww, look. You woke up poor Ichigo from his beauty rest ("Beauty rest...?"), you horrible person!" He whipped around, walked a couple paces away from Allen, and retorted to the white haired teen's previous comment, "So what if you aren't a good Soul Reaper? Fight the hollows with something you _know_ you have and are good at fighting with." He turned around and said, in response to Allen's confused look, "Your Innocence, beansprout. You can fight with that, can't you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts, Walker." Allen recoiled at Lavi's harsh tone and fierce expression. He was also surprised that Lavi used his last name; he hadn't been called Walker by Lavi before...

Lavi's expression changed from angry to mellow (yet serious) quickly and he said, "I am gonna go after Toshiro and make sure he ain't dead yet. And if any hollows come, just fight 'em with your Innocence if you won't use your zanpakuto; I'm sure you can, Allen." As Lavi ran off to Toshiro's aid, Allen was even more surprised. Lavi actually used his first name in a casual conversation?

While he was running, Lavi thought, _Hunh...was that encouraging enough? Allen seemed sooo depressed... _Lavi shook his head, _Wait, why am I thinking about that now, of all times? I need to be focusing on Toshiro and the Espada thing. What's my strategy? Come in with a big entrance and most likely get killed? _Lavi subconsciously smacked himself in the face, _NO! Man, now I'm just as depressed as Allen. Okay, new plan. Take my time to sneak around the Espada and attack it with a Fire Seal? Hmm...what are the chances I can actually sneak around an Espada? Prolly 1,000,000 to 1...the one in my favor..._ Before he burst out of the forest into the clearing where the battle was, he stopped to look at what was happening in front of him.

Blood spattered the ground. Toshiro had yet again been cut by spaded, whiplash tail of Tamashi. Hitogoroshi had turned Hakaisha into a bizarre looking beast. Covering his face was a mask similar to a dragon's skull. His shoulders were plated with white, hollow armour with a spike sticking out of each plate. Hakaisha's chest bore a chest plate, revealing his hollow hole and roman numeral, II. On his back there were two cleavers, identical to the meat cleavers one would see in a meat shop.

The akuma hollow mix roared, "Ha! What's wrong, you pathetic excuse for a captain? Can't keep up with my speed? How sad!" In his rant, his left shoulder plate was split in two. Blood dripped out of a deep gash on his left shoulder.

"Pfft. Your arrogance will be your downfall, monster," Toshiro hissed. He swung his sword diagonally upward, summoning an ice dragon. It flew in a twisted motion to the akuma hollow, fangs bared. Tamashi snorted, drew the clever over his right shoulder and smashed the dragon into the ground. He sneered, thinking he had killed the beast. However, the ice of the dragon came to life, forming many pillars of sharpened icicles. They stabbed into Tamashi's chest, shattering the hollow armour. Part of his mask crumbled off.

The akuma hollow retched blood and snarled, "How the- HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?"

"Hah. Are you really that stupid? I control the ice from my zanpakuto; I can make it do whatever I want, so long as I say 'please' and 'thank-you,'" Toshiro said sardonically. He began to turn away, when he heard smashing against the icicles and the roaring of Tamashi. "Please, spare me. You can't break those, you fool."

"THEN HOW WAS I ABLE TO SMASH YOUR DRAGON, YOU BASTARD?" Tamashi shrieked.

Toshiro chuckled, then laughed coldly, "Think about it with your miniscule brain. I said I can control ice, remember? Not that you would..."

Tamashi looked confused, then it hit him. He growled softly, "No way...you...you tricked me!" He then thundered, "You let me think I could shatter that ice like a cheap souvenir! You sneaky, cold blooded, heartless..."

"Insult me all you want; it won't change the fact that I have you at my mercy now," said Toshiro icily. "How should I kill you, I wonder? Let you bleed to death or simply behead you? Take your pick."

"Keh! I choose...neither," Hakaisha sneered, unsheathing both cleavers and crushing all the icicles that impaled him. Toshiro was unprepared for the attack that Tamashi unleashed on him; one cleaver coming from above and the other coming from the side. What surprised him was that neither of the attacks reached him.

"Heh, hey, Toshiro. This is two times I saved your ass. Now you owe me two," a voice said. Toshiro looked up and saw the gigantic hammer blocking the cleavers. He looked back and saw the familiar red hair and orange scarf.

Toshiro said softly in shock, "Lavi..."

"Jeez, louise, don't continue your shower of thanks or anything," Lavi joked. Then he turned to the akuma hollow and said, "Okay, you are no longer needed. Extend!" The hammer extended further, forcing Tamashi back away from Toshiro. The red head jogged up to Toshiro and commented contemptously, "Wow, you look fantastic with all that red staining your shihakusho and...white, vest thing you wear."

"First of all, I wasn't expecting to get this many wounds, and secondly, it's called a haori, stupid rabbit," Toshiro spat. He glanced back at Hakaisha and said, "But, this isn't really the time. That thing is still alive."

Lavi laughed briefly and said, "Yeah, yeah. I got it covered, Toshiro."

"I'm telling you people it's Captain Hitsugaya! Why won't you listen to me?"

Tamashi glared at the two squabbling warriors and he shouted, "Even with an extra hand, you will still die here, Toshiro Hitsugaya!" He began scraping the two cleavers against eachother, creating a shower of sparks that bounced off the ground. "Prepare to be slaughtered, fools." Stopping their argument, the white haired boy and red head held up their weapons for the next and final round against Tamashi Hakaisha.


End file.
